Bob Horton: Scout's brave leadership rewarded

Updated 10:53 pm, Saturday, May 25, 2013

Thursday was a good day for Greg Edelston and every other Boy Scout or troop leader in Greenwich. In fact it was a good day for Greenwich, period.

The good day came courtesy of the Greenwich Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which decided to welcome openly gay boys into its many local troops, and to allow openly gay adults to be Scout leaders.

The Greenwich Council is now at odds with the Boy Scouts of America's national organization, which voted in Texas Thursday to keep gay adults out of scout mentoring or leadership positions while allowing gay boys to become Scouts. So now the Boy Scouts will train young gay men to be leaders, just not to be leaders of Scouts.

Edelston is a 19-year-old Eagle Scout from Cos Cob who was first introduced to Greenwich Time readers in an April story by Neil Vigdor that nicely chronicled the young man's commitment to righting a wrong, motivated in part by a desire to help his close childhood friend who had to remain closeted or risk being thrown out of Scouting.

The college sophomore started a petition campaign on change.org hoping to generate enough public pressure to bring Greenwich Scouting into the 21st century. He faced some influential opposition, most notably from Malcolm Pray Jr., a prominent town businessman, political fundraiser, and 40-year member of the Greenwich Scout council.

"We've had gay groups for many years trying to destroy the Boy Scouts," Pray told the Greenwich Time last February. "Look at the problems the Catholic Church has had in recent years with the negative aspects of homosexual groups," he added. He of course was referring to the predatory pedophile Catholic priests who have destroyed thousands of young lives under the guise of doing "God's work." Homosexuals are not pedophiles, Mr. Pray. The Greenwich Scout council deserves credit for ignoring Mr. Pray and the BSA national council.

While I suspect that a merit badge for citizenship already adorns young Edelston's Scout uniform, his efforts to effect change deserve greater recognition. He had the strength of character to take on the leaders of the very organization that had given him its highest rank. That may not be the kind of leadership scouting had in mind, but it is the kind of leadership the national organization needs.

The BSA says it strives to "build the future leaders of this country" and to instill in each scout the "responsibilities of participating citizenship." But the decision to include gay scouts but exclude gay adults from scout leadership is doomed to failure in the long run.

What happens to a gay scout who has earned Eagle rank? He has spent years participating in all the typical scouting activities, from overnight hikes and national jamborees, to community service projects and other significant volunteer work. He has earned dozens of merit badges denoting mastery of specific skills or crafts. Achieving eagle-ness has been a childhood dream realized after years of hard work and true dedication.

So let's imagine the Eagle recognition ceremony for our gay scout, who we'll call Mark. I've never been to such a ritual (though I did earn a few merit badges, including one for plumbing of all things) but let's say it is held around a campfire on a nice spring evening. All Mark's fellow scouts from Troop 2 are there, as are his scoutmasters and proud parents.

Mr. Crockett, the head scoutmaster, addresses the enthusiastic crowd that has formed a circle around the fire. He recites for them the many accomplishments that brought Mark to this special evening in his honor.

"Mark exemplifies the best of scouting," says Mr. Crockett. "He is a true leader, a good friend, and I'm sure he will accomplish great things in the years ahead. Now let's hear a few words from our newest Eagle Scout."

Mark makes his way to the center of the circle. "So Mark, now that you are an Eagle Scout, what do you want to do next?" Crockett asks.

"Well, I'd like to be a scoutmaster," Mark says.

"Good luck with that, Mark," Crockett replies. "As of tonight, you are no longer welcome in the Boy Scouts."

Fortunately, the Greenwich council's decision to allow gay scout leaders means the above scene won't ever play in Greenwich, unless of course the national council is somehow able to enforce its myopic and contradictory policy in Greenwich.

Each scout meeting begins with the recitation of the Scout Law. For some reason, I remember it to this day: "A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent." It needs three new virtues: "Tolerant, understanding, and thoughtful."